Gathering of the Clouds
by Skyhitz
Summary: When Gwen gets banished from her kingdom she decides to travel to the Islands of Galadrith in hopes of starting a new life. It doesn't work out as she had hoped, until she meets Noah. A mage who stole her horse so that he could fled from a town surrounded by gigantic magically summoned clouds. They decide to travel together but how long will they be able to ignore their past?


**And a neeeww~ story! :3 This idea just popped into my head and I couldn't help but type it out. Let me know if you like it, since I'm not sure if I'll be continuing this or not.**

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It didn't take seconds for Gwen to decide where she would be going once she saw huge dark clouds above the town nearby. Those clouds obviously weren't natural, they had gathered too sudden for that and their color was too dark. No this was magic, no doubt about it. And it wasn't just magic, it was the most powerful magic she had ever seen.

'This could be fun,' Gwen said as she encouraged her horse to take up speed and head for the city. She had been banished from her own kingdom as punishment for a deed she did not commit. First she wanted to get rightful vengeance, but then she decided it wasn't worth the trouble. And after all, the one who betrayed her used to be her friend. And even though she know she fully had the right too, she still didn't wanted to see him hurt.

Moving to a new province seemed to be the better option. So she had gone South to the Islands of Galadrith, hoping to start a new life there. So far it all had been pretty boring though. She only could get lame ass jobs like rescuing pets out of trees or cleaning houses. It's like they **wanted** her to result to thieving, ugh.. Really, someone even asked her if she would want to be part of a brothel nearby! That had been the last straw, she needed to get away and find some exciting way to earn her money!

For example: defeating a probably malicious and extremely dangerous wizard! Gwen was confident in herself what led her to belief that she could take on most foes. So defeating this wizard would certainly be possible. She didn't want to do it so that she became a hero. No, it was more because she just liked fighting evil in general, it gave her a certain kick that nothing else could. Also she would probably get paid for doing it. But the most persuasive reason for her had to be that she was curious about was going on in the city, **very** curious.

Once she reached the city gate she noticed that it was abandoned, it didn't strike her as really odd though. All the guards had probably gathered to stop the wizard already.

Gwen laughed. 'And they still haven't stopped him? Oh I'll show them how a real renegade does things!' Full of energy Gwen moved on until she could feel the powerful magic surrounding her. She stepped of her horse so that she had more mobility. She didn't know what would be around this block after all..

It was not what she expected. Before she knew it some guy ran past her and took her horse.

'I'm sorry for this!' the guy said as he mounted her horse without permission. The guy was scrawny but still managed to get on the horse pretty fast.

'What do you think you're doing!?' Gwen yelled confused. Was someone seriously trying to steal **her** horse? Hah, he would have the surprise of his life! Gwen couldn't stop the thief before he had mounted her horse so instead she had to chase him down. This was no trouble for her though, her magic was perfect for situations like this.

'You won't get away.' Gwen grinned as she caught up with the horse and it's rider. Her eyes glowed Teal as she activated a magic spell that helped her jump faster so that she could get onto the horse without any problems, seating herself behind the thief. 'Do I have to push you off or will you be so kind to halt my horse?'

'Ugh.' The rider groaned. 'Look, I was gonna give it back. So please, I have to get away now. Didn't you see what's happening here? Or is that hood of yours blocking your eyesight.'

'Seriously, stop the horse.' Gwen lost her patience.

'I'll pay you or whatever. I just don't wanna be here when they point fingers for who is responsible.'

'Because you're the culprit?'

'I didn't say that, I won't deny that I'm closely involved though. And I don't feel like going to jail unfairly.'

'Okay, let's agree to this.' Gwen looked around, they had already left the village. She pointed to some woods close by. 'Stop there, if we're going somewhere, then I'll be the one guiding Azure.'

'Wait, you're actually agreeing?'

'Why try convincing me if you didn't expect me to say yes?'

'Maybe I'm just that desperate.' The thief shrugged. 'I even had another argument ready in case you were to refuse. Still wanna hear it?'

'Shoot.'

'If the guards -who are chasing us now if you hadn't noticed already- catch up, then they won't just think of me as a suspect. I doubt they'll believe your innocence no matter what you say.'

'That is a good point, it's kinda bad that I decided to help you before hearing that, isn't it?'

'It really is.'

It didn't take long before they reached the forest. Gwen pulled the thief of the horse and gestured him to hide with her -and the horse- behind some bushes.

'What are you doing? They will surely find us here!' The thief exclaimed. 'I should have known I had gone with an idiot when you accepted my request so soon. '

'Would you be quiet?' Gwen said. She wasn't that much irritated by his comment as he just didn't knew better. She took a lizard out of the bag that was attached to the horse's saddle. Her eyes glowed Teal again as she muttered a spell to the lizard. '_F'rish na la foot Azure â Angus chagne aqua vella. Angus la foot verspeda._' She then put the lizard on the place where the horse tracks had stopped going straight. 'Go further until you see water, bathe and then return to me.' The lizard seem to nod before she ran off. The tracks she left behind weren't those of a lizard though, it were those of a horse. The next step for Gwen was to take care of the horse tracks that led to their hiding place. This problem was also resolved with a quick spell.

'That didn't take more than 2 minutes,' the thief whispered. 'I admit, I'm impressed.'

'Thanks, but be quiet now, the guards are approaching.'

Not long after that the guards had caught up. They didn't question the horse tracks that the lizard had left and followed right along. The duo waited a bit longer though to leave their hiding place and went in the other direction.

'Will Angus find the way back by herself?' the thief asked.

'Now it's my turn to be impressed, even if it's only slightly. You understand the magic language?' This had to be the case since she had only mentioned her lizards name in the spell she had cast. Someone who wouldn't know the magic language would have never been able to distinct that name.

'As much as I need for now,' the thief smiled. 'I never stop learning though.'

'Nobody should. But hey, this bonding is nice and all. Only not very useful. Where do you want to go from here?'

The thief looked around. 'Do you want an honest answer or should I make up something nice instead?'

'Honest, don't worry. I can take it.' Gwen smiled confidently.

'I really don't know,' the thief smiled sheepishly. 'My life kinda went up in smoke there, do you have any place to recommend?'

'I can't help you I'm afraid since I'm new to this province myself.'

'Where are you from?'

'Maineth.'

'The luxury life wasn't to your liking?' The thief said while arching an eyebrow. 'Mages of your skill are treated like kings there.'

'Only if they join the mages college really.'

'And you didn't?'

'No, I did.' Gwen laughed half heartedly. 'But I guess you can say that now I'm in the same boat as you. There isn't much left of my old life either.'

'I get it, so I won't ask further questions.' The thief honestly didn't seem interested in the subject anymore. Probably because he didn't want to share any information of his own. 'My name is Noah by the way.'

'I'm Gwen. Normally I'd say nice to meet you, but I don't know if that's applicable in this situation.'

'For me it is,' Noah smiled a bit. 'I wouldn't have gotten away if it wasn't for you.'

'Well I was looking for some excitement,' Gwen shrugged lightheartedly. 'and you did help me find it.'

'If that's all you're looking for I won't give you more then..' Noah pretended to count the time on his finger. 'A week to live at best.'

'I'm not that reckless, It's just that I want a more fun way to live my live. I just can't seem to get started in this province though, the jobs available are extremely dull.' Gwen sighed. 'I do want to live and not just survive you know. Cleaning houses for the rest of my life won't help me reach that.'

'True I guess.' Noah mumbled while thinking over the problem. 'You know what, why don't we travel together for the time being?'

'Why, because you don't have any means of transportation?' Gwen smirked.

'That's one point,' Noah said dryly. 'But we could also teach each other some magic, you must know different things then me coming from Maineth and all. Also, I could help you get some jobs. You know those request jobs that only guilds have access too?'

'Yeah,' Gwen sighed. 'That's a stupid rule really.'

'It's just a safety precaution.' Noah grinned. 'Well I'm part of a guild, and I'd be more than happy to split the money with you for the time being.'

'For the time being eh? That seems vague.'

'I'm not really good with friendships in the long run. People have even been so kindly to tell me that my behavior even repels friendships.'

'I'm more of the loner type myself.' Gwen thought about the offer. Noah didn't seem that bad, and helping each other to become better at magic was a pretty good idea. Trusting someone who she just helped flee from a city surrounded by powerful magic probably wasn't, but well.. It seemed a little too late to turn back from that. 'But okay, I accept your offer. At least until something better comes along, then I'll be gone within seconds.'

'That I only deem fair, I'd do the same.' Noah said with a nod. 'Any preference of where to go now? I know a nice village nearby where we could stay for the night.'

'Sounds like a plan!' Gwen answered. Maybe this deal wasn't as bad of a choice as she had first thought. Having a guide would come quite in handy for her. Plus she had probably been alone for way to long now anyways, it was so bad that even she had started to **long** for some company...

Yes, that was a breaking point for her.

Without warning Noah already took seat on the horse again. Gwen looked at him questionably, she had wanted to walk through the woods.

'I don't walk long distances,' Noah shrugged. 'It's against my principles.'


End file.
